The effects of fresh Gastrodia elata Blume on the cognitive deficits induced by chronic restraint stress

Abstract

Chronic restraint stress (CRS) is a classic animal model of stress that can lead to various physiological and psychological dysfunctions, including systemic neuroinflammation and memory deficits. Fresh Gastrodia elata Blume (FG), the unprocessed raw tuber of Gastrodia elata Blume, has been reported to alleviate the symptoms of headache, convulsions, and neurodegenerative diseases, while the protective effects of FG on CRS-induced cognitive deficits remain unclear. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of FG on CRS-induced cognitive deficits through multiplex animal behavior tests and to further explore the related mechanism by observing the expression of mitochondrial apoptosis-related proteins in the mouse hippocampus. In in vivo experiments, mice were subjected to the object location recognition test (OLRT), new object recognition test (NORT), Morris water maze test (MWMT), and passive avoidance test (PAT) to evaluate the learning and memory ability. In in vitro experiments, the expression of the AKT/CREB pathway, the fission- and apoptosis-related proteins (Drp1, Cyt C, and BAX), and the proinflammatory cytokines’ (TNF‐α and IL‐1β) level in the hippocampus was examined. Our results demonstrated that in spontaneous behavior experiments, FG significantly improved the cognitive performance of CRS model mice in OLRT (p < 0.05) and NORT (p < 0.05). In punitive behavior experiments, FG shortened the escape latency in long-term spatial memory test (MWMT, p < 0.01) and prolonged the latency into the dark chamber in non-spatial memory test (PAT, p < 0.01). Biochemical analysis showed that FG treatment significantly suppressed CRS‐induced Cyt C, Drp1, and BAX activation (p < 0.001, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05), promoted the CREB, p-CREB, AKT, and p-AKT level (p < 0.05, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001), and inhibited the CRS‐induced proinflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α and IL‐1β, p < 0.05 and p < 0.001) level in the hippocampus. Taken together, these results suggested that FG could attenuate cognitive deficits induced by CRS on multiple learning and memory behavioral tests.

Fresh Gastrodia elata Blume alleviates simulated weightlessness-induced cognitive impairment by regulating inflammatory and apoptosis-related pathways

“…Animals were randomly divided into five groups, namely, the control group, model group, positive drug group (Donepezil, 1.6 mg/kg), FG low-dose group (0.5 g/kg), and high-dose group (1.0 g/kg). The dose of Donepezil was determined by previous literature ( Yang et al, 2020 ), and the doses of FG were according to our preliminary experiments and literature reports ( Huang et al, 2021 ; Huang et al, 2022 ). Oral administration was at a volume of 20 mL/kg and started at the same time as the modeling.…”

“…In this research, water extract of Fresh Gastrodia elata Blume (FG) was used, which is a new and original form that maintains its original nutritional value compared with the processed form and is commonly used in herbal cuisine ( Huang et al, 2021 ). Moreover, our previous research has proved that FG has great benefits for improving cognitive impairment caused by circadian rhythm disorder and chronic restraint stress in mice, both of which are problems faced by astronauts during spaceflight ( Huang et al, 2021 ; Huang et al, 2022 ). The present study was designed to investigate the effect of FG on cognitive impairment induced by a simulated weightlessness model to explore the potential application value of FG in aerospace medicine.…”

Chronic salmon calcitonin exerts an antidepressant effect via modulating the p38 MAPK signaling pathway

“…Interestingly, KEGG enrichment analysis from 82 down-regulated genes showed that these genes were involved in signaling pathways, including PI3K/Akt (scatter plot; Figure 3D). Similarly, the CRS-treated ICR mice were subjected to cognitive deficits with the decreased AKT/mTOR in hipppocampus (Huang et al, 2022). The analysis found that the PI3K/Akt and MAPK signaling pathway were significantly changed in CRS-treated mice.…”

Total flavonoids of Cynomorium songaricum attenuates cognitive defects in an Aβ1-42-induced Alzheimer’s disease rat model by activating BDNF/TrkB signaling transduction

“…The step-down test was performed to evaluate the cognitive and memory functions of the rats [21,22], and was divided into a learning phase and a memory phase. The step-down test was performed with a Step-down Recorder (DB097, ShuduoBao, Beijing, China).…”